Mail sorting apparatus



Aug. 14, 1951 Filed June 17, 194e L. W. BAILEY MAIL SORTING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet l HURELE n4 R/EY INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Aug- 14 1951 L. w. BAILEY 2,564,185

MAIL SORTING APPARATUS Filed June 17, 1946 5 SheetsSheet 2 Af/ll fr@ Fig. Z

I n IllllllIIIIIIIIIWIIIIIIIIA AURELLE w ofi/'LEY INVENTOR.

BY gaat?, lk/MTM A TTOR/VE Y Aug. 14, 1951 y l.. W. BAILEY 2,564,185

MAIL SORTING APPARATUS Filed June 17, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 (44- ID- J ,Elo 'D- x 2 2 O /z f4 Q C 4 HL/'pme w. @may 4a 402 2 JNVENToR.

l y Y 79 4a 'BY A TTORNEY Patented Aug. 14, 1,951

l; My inventionlrelatesftcr mail and'-the*generaliobjectoftheinventien isftoproLF videi equipment .by tiieluseof'v Whichthenecessany procedurel in sorting mail'l isA greatly facilitated: and' space' economize'd':

appreciable size theeprocedur@ followed* the# stamps have' been'cancelledat'acancellationstationis tog deliver' the mail; byl -hand toA primary sorting stations andi (wr effect" a prinnnysortingj ofthe-mailihtomain categoriessucli as'-"in' cityl, inl state; other1 statesm and' 'foreigm in theI sortingl equipment case'fof" outgoing mail; together vvitlif` thee segrega1- Y tionof" indirectfmailwtoispeciflocalities; whibiiistobeseparatedi fromthe rest'e off tl'iemail but .is not* to be'- further sortedluntilarrlvalf at its' destination. TheI` sorted mail placed in the proper'y tween'- cancelling; primary; secondaryl andi bun.

dlir'ig'statins; and because of? thislmovemeniiiof? personnel the work is generallyf carried outf on" one Hoor level necessitatingi they provisioni off' ai (o1. 20a-122il 5. l I'nsorting` mail in modern'- communitiesciT any t againmoved byz personnel or rn'e'cl'ianicalIk means`A not? interfering witl the sortingl personnel, or.'v

byj mechanism not' interrupting the flow' of mail to the points otemporary'accumulation;

At still fiiirtli'en'obiecft'oifLA thefinvention'lis to-providemaili sorting' equipment? having meansfor-f transferring maili from*--sta'ft'un to" station with the stamps on the pieces of mail in the samepcr-- sition sctthatanT operatorI mayfreadil'y cheek' the 1 0; cancellation: of 'the' stampsthereon.

15type of mail, or type or buildin 25i parts resulting in'- avoidance0 off mechanicall f'ail' l-lstil-lifur-thenciliieetof the=ihvent`ion is to pre1-'- vider meohanicall means fon sorting" Ina-iii vvliielil is: adaptaiilelto"v thewiiievariety e'conditiens ex' isti'ng; such as variationsiin site off population,

gs in which3 post' oic'eslarelo'eated Y y Itns yet anothenoljcof'tle invention to pro` vide mechanicalimail sontingrequipmentwhichA i's simple in designand? has! al minimum'L olii work-ing ure1andi-low-cost offmai'ntenance:

Still another' abject of the invention* is to pro-K vide mechanical mail sortingL equipmentI which is light in weight and econommaronspacef,Y thereby* 25 facilitating installations of tleequipm'entirr exy 30 description takenfirrconjunction with tlie istingpost' officel buildings or iir space occupied" by post oces in other buildings.

` Stilll further features and* objects of the iiiverrtii'nn Willfl lf'rereinaftert` appear' ini` tlie following' accompanying illustrativedrawings;

tion ofa mail'sortihgiarra Y ligament` incorporatingVy the invention and' suitabl y v35 umes. of. mail:

great amount'of 'oonspace'andimucli loss offtin'ef" and? interruptionofthelWorkL of the: mail sortersa object of; thev invention-vis: to'- provida maile sorting.l equipmentnwherebyfin postoi'ces requir:I ing.'- primary and .secondarlys1 sontingofxlangeiquana titi'esoffmail; theipieces@ ofi mail: arezkeptefmoving` away from the SOrtingperSOmIel-amdzdelivem by; mechanicalmeanszonby personnel-itc the; various sonnel-,. therebyf eiecting; great.- savings; im thee time: required for the sorting operations..

Ai further obj ect of. the: inventionfis; to. arranger primary and secondary mailsortingstations; and.

gravity feed; of.` the, manif-mm1 station.; to stations may,Y be; utilized.` A

.Alstill furthenfeature: of. the invention: is' to' clunulated; temporarily ati smvy point; they are;l 55x.'

Fig. 2.- isa througlichutes used. to. trans fer. mail?. from .onel station.. tot. another in Y. the are rangement shown. in Fig.. 1;, Eig, isa-fragmentary plamview showing, the, arrangemem;,of.primary?sortingdesks;

Eig., 4.-' isx a fraggnentafrity viewy in. front eleva?1 tion, Y parts beings brakeny away? andy showing,` the;

arrangementof. chutesdelivering; maiL from the:

` lecting, themail-anddelivevin itito chutes (netz shown), directing; it.- ta secondany sorting desksg;V

Eig. V4a: is` al fragmentanyy elm/'-ational:v detail.,

showing the primary mail being delivered by the A chutesdeadingf to@ thee seconda-ny sorting desks-:f

Eig. Y 5i is:v a. fragmentamy detaill showing, aisnev cial arranger-nenty for` delivering; mail te.l amtv onel of a. plurality,- of:y secondaria sorting desks;

e for sorting: larg@ V01? Fig.. 6; atfragmentarwelevation. on the burra- 3 dling station showing the chutes holding mail to be bundled.

The number of primary desks may vary from a dozen or so to some hundreds and the sorting panels are commonly provided with a set of thirtye six compartments each having an opening approximately six inches by two inches, the longer sides being arranged either lengthwise or vertically. In the drawings the sorting panels of the primary desks shown in detail are provided with six rows of slots of six tiers each, the slots being approximately six inches wide and two inches high arranged with the long sides horizontal.

In place of the compartments hitherto used in the sorting panels oi the primary and secondary sorting desks I provide chutes communicating with the openings in the sorting panels.

The number of secondary sorting desks varies according to local conditions but in a typical case the secondary sorting desksare less in number than the primary desks and their sorting panels are provided with two or more times the number of the compartments of the primary desks.

Referring rst to the sorting assembly shown in Fig. 1, the numeral IU indicates the end desk of a row of identically arranged primary sorting desks.

The mail falls through chutes I2 connected t0 the slots in the sorting panels of all the primary desks and is collected on traveling bands generally indicated in Fig. 2 by |4 arranged within the casing I6 and delivered therefrom by chutes I8 to the receiving chutes I9 of the secondary desks 2|).

From the sorting panels 2| of the secondary desks 2B the mail falls through chutes 22 to a bundling station 24 where it is held by doors 25 closing the ends oi the chutes 22 for the persons effecting the bundling, who work along the bundling stations extracting the mail from the chutes and .tyingitinto bundles of suitable size for placing in mail sacks or for placing in the pouches of mail carriers.

The equipment thus rar has been described in outline only and will'be morepfully described hereinafter. l

`In Fig. 1 the p rimary desks |40 Vare shown as arranged on a mezzanine floor 26, the mail sorted by the primary desks i being'delivered to the r secondarysortng 'desks' 2U locatedon the mainr oor 28, though preferably raised above floor lever', while the `mail sortedby'the secondary desks 20 is delivered to bundling stations 24 behind the desks.

Mail on entering the post oice is carried to thecancelling machines, not shown, and from these machines isplaced in baskets 29 conveyed by an endless belt 30 along the tops of the primary sorting desks Iii. A swinging arm 32 is provided at each-primary desk which enables anr operator to slide a basket of mail from the belt to the receiving panel 34 Yof each desk, the raising of the arm 32'freeing the remaining baskets on the belt to travel on to the other desks. Empty mail baskets areplaced on the return run of the belt which may be'- supported on rollers 36 and carried backtolthe stamp cancelling station. 1 'l Mail handled by primary sorting desks assigned to indirect mail is delivered by a chute 38 directly to the bundling station 24 since it is not given a secondary breakdown -atthe point oforigin. The various elements ofthe sorting system comprising primary and secondary-sorting desks and 4 bundling stations may be combined in a variety of ways to provide mail sorting sections adaptable to post orrices serving towns of medium size, such as of 50,000 inhabitants, in which case the belt-transferred mail may be dispensed with as will be fully explained later, or may be arranged as shown in Fig. 1 for handling any quantity of mail, or may be arranged to meet the specific requirements of mail sorting installations already set up in which case it may be desired to utilize as much as possible oi' the existing equipment and premises and yet achieve the economy of time and effort provided by the practice of my invention.

The chutes of the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1 are arranged as illustrated in detail in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 4a. and 5. Each slot I I1, |I2, II3, etc. in the sorting panel I3 of a primary sorting desk connects with a separate chute |21, |22, |23, etc. through which the mail falls upon one of a series of narrow elements |41, |42-, |43, etc. of the primary mail-collecting belt I4. Except extreme outside belt elements, each of the belt elements, winch will numberthirty-six in the case of the primary sorting desks arranged as shown in Fig. 3, consists oftwo Vendless lengths of belt separated to provideslots 402, etc. The end belts I4I and I435V drop the letters carried thereon into the chutes 401, anda chute not shown at the ends of those belts and leading to chute |81 and an opposite end chute. The lengths of belt except the rst and last are driven in opposite directions to bring all mail on the elements over the openings t0 the secondary chutes |82,l

etc. each located over adiferent chute leading to a secondary sorting desk 20. Thebelt elements are separated from each other by partitions 44 with which the chutes I2 are connected, thus keeping the mail dropping through the individual chutes onto one belt element separated from the mail carried on adjacent belt elements. By these means all letters deposited on a specic element of the receiving belt are transported to one secondary sorting desk, each of the thirty-six velements of the belt delivering mailto a separate secondary sorting desk.V It is obvious that the chutes I8 may if desired be brought down to a point beside the secondary desks since these are fewer in numberrthan the primary desks and may be spaced apart Without occupying any greater oor space.

It will be noted that it is customary for theV primary sorting clerks to insert all letters in the same relative position in the slots in the sorting panels, to enable theV sorters to check that the stamps have been properly cancelled. In my in- 1 vention the chutes and transfer belts are arranged to keep the stampsv in the same initial position in their travel to the secondary sorting desks 20', or should some of the letters change position in their travel the stamps will be in gen,

erally the same position when the `mail reaches the secondary sorting desks.

From the slots in the sorting panels of the secondary sorting desks 20 in which it is placed by the sorting clerks, the pieces of mail are delivered down to the ends of the chutes 221, 222, 223, etc. running from the slots in the secondary desk sorting panels 2| to the bundling stations 24. The lower ends ofthese chutes are closed.

by doors 23 of anyvsuitable construction, those illustrated comprising doors hinged along their upper horizontal edges and held closed by the weight of metal knobs .25 by which they may be opened by the bundling personneLto `extract the pieces of mail held thereinland tieit into proper- 1y sized bundles;A v i. .a

since thearraneement of the .second argdesks is similar to that of the primary` sorting desks` Preferably the chutes are arranged in anyssuitg-z able Imannerfso that` the, interior lof the chutes may: be cleared. of anyf letter thatgmayibecome jammed through the opening of its envelope or other unforeseen circumstances and the belts reached for maintenance purposes.

The mezzanine oor shown in Fig. 1 may obviously be reached by any suitable means such as a stairway (not shown).

It will be evident that the equipment described, in spite of its capacity for handling large quantities of mail, is very light in weight since the chutes may be made of sheet metal and the sorting desks may be made from light gauge angle material and metal sheet.

The volume of mail requiring to be sorted, is very much greater at some periods than at others to meet which condition it may be necessary to install some sorting desks which are not used in sorting normal volumes of mail, but even under normal conditions some particular category of mail such as sales advertising matter may throw too heavy a load on certain of the secondary sorting desks, and for this reason I provide a deliver chute construction shown in Fig. 5, whereby some of the mail delivered to such an 'overloaded secondary desk may be diverted to auxiliary desks.

'Ihe delivery chute 45 deposits mail into a tray 4l pivoted below the end of the chute on a pin 43 projecting from the receiving panel 49 of the special assignment desk i) and passing through a slot 5I in the bottom of the tray 41 along the center line thereof. A pin 52 projects downwardly from the tray on its longitudinal centerline toward its front end and is guided in a curved slot 54 in the surface of the receiving panel of the specially assigned secondary desk 5i) which is flanked by auxiliary secondary desks 56, 58. If the sorter at desk 50 receives mail too rapidlyhe can swing tray 41 to one side or the other to deflect mail to an auxiliary desk; in Fig. 5 the tray 4l is shown in position to enable the Ysorter at desk 56 to take mail from the tray 41.

The primary and secondary sorting desks are shown as arranged for ordinary letter mail which constitutes by far the greater bulk of the mail. Sorting desks for handling large size mail as for example pieces up to nine or ten inches in width and length-and more than average thickness can be handled by special desks having slots twelve inches by two inches or larger sizes with corresponding sized chutes connected to the slots where it is not possible to use the collecting belts described for the letter mail such out size mail may be passed to the secondary sorting desks by. manual transfer, using chutes to the secondary sorting desks if the latter are positioned on a lower oor, since this arrangements utilizes the principles and equipment specically described 61j in. other arrangements or nunon-variations; there-l of it is notthought. necessary' to; furtherI describe it or illustratel it.

Conclusion.

it willbe apparent that.. the mail sorting equipment4 of` my invention has the. following advantageous characteristics:

YThe maillis moved. yfrom cancelling stations to bundlingv stations through primary andv secondarvstations along, a path that moves the mail forwardcontinuously resulting in the elimination oi all. confusion and interference'between sorting. personnel.

Allpieces of. mail are carried. away from'the. slots, in the sorting panels, ofthe sorting. desks by gravity as fast a eachpiece is dropped into. the. slots. There, is. thus, no. accumulation of. mail at the sorting desks. anytemporary accumulation of pieces of mail' that occurs is away from the sorting panels so that the continuance of the sorting operation cannot be interrupted.

The equipment is simple, adaptable, light and economical in both cost and space required for installation.

Although the invention has been hereinbefore described with reference to the sorting of mail it is to be understood that it is equally applicable to sorting other material requiring to be processed or dealt with in a similar manner to mail.

While I have described and illustrated preferred embodiments of my invention it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as indicated by the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Equipment for eiecting a first sorting followed by further sorting and delivery to final collection receptacles of flat articles such as pieces of mail or cards comprising: a first group of sorting cabinets each having its face composed of partitions defining rectangular slots greater in one dimension than the other, a plurality of l, juxtaposed endless traveling bands having a width not greater than the smaller dimension of said slots and constituting collecting units, arranged at a lower level than said cabinets, vertical walls dividing said bands from one another, each element of the collecting units having two oppositely moving bands arranged in the saine plane with their facing ends spaced to provide a gap, except the extreme side bands, each of which consists of a single belt which delivers to a space at opposite ends of the plurality of bands; partitions forming continuations of the cabinet partitions and guiding the packages placed in the slots and falling by gravity therefrom onto a unit individual to corresponding slots of eachV of said first group of sorting cabinets, said partitions constraining said packages to fall on said conveying units on an edge, a second group of cabinets arranged at a lower level than the rst group of cabinets and said plurality of traveling bands each having its face composed of partitions dening rectangular slots greater in one dimension than the other; partitions guiding the packages falling through the gaps and spaces to which they have been delivered by the collecting units and effective to guide said packages to a particular cabinet connected with a particular gap or space by said partitions; a group of nal collection receptacles arranged at a lower level than said second group of sorting cabinets; and partitions forming continuations of the partitions of the second group of cabinets and eiective to guide fiat packages placed in and falling from each slot of said second group of cabinets by gravity while maintained in a predetermined position by said partitions, to final collection receptacles individual to each slot of each cabinet of the second group of cabinets, the fully sorted packages being removed from the nal collection receptacles for `Y bundling.

2. In sorting apparatus for at articles such as pieces of mail or cards having a moving belt mounted to extend parallel to and adjacent a group of cabinets, sorting apparatus as set forth in claim 1 and in addition comprising: containers holding unsorted mail carried by said belt; and means normally held out of the path of said containers but operable by the sorting personnel to deflect a container from said belt to any of the cabinets of said rst group of cabinets.

LAURELLE W. BAILEY.

Y 8 REFERENCES armanY vThe following references are` of record inthe file of this patent: l

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number t Name y L'Date I 1,270,501 Dohm June 25, 1918 1,332,356 Olson Mar. 2, 1920 1,710,969 Dempsey Apr. 30,` 19729; 1,928,185 Morris 4 7 Sept. A26, 1933. 2,115,805 Fuller Maj7 3, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 597,553 Germany May 26, 1934 Great Britain June 8, 1933 

